Isaac Hayden believes the Newcastle United players have earned Rafa Benitez’s trust - and admits having the Magpies manager back on Tyneside has only increased their confidence levels further.

Benitez missed training last week and was absent from the dugout for the 1-0 victory over Swansea City as he recovered from an operation he underwent earlier this month.

But the Spaniard - who communicated to his players ahead of the game by calling each of them individually, before remaining in constant contact with his backroom staff throughout the match - returned to Tyneside on Monday and has taken training this week as Newcastle prepare to host Stoke City on Saturday.

Hayden believes the Magpies’ disciplined performance at the Liberty Stadium, in which they enacted Benitez’s gameplan to the letter in his absence, proves the close relationship which has been forged between the manager and his team.

Isaac Hayden of Newcastle United during a visit to Newcastle West End Foodbank (Image: Newcastle United)

“The manager has been back on the training pitch doing his normal work really and preparing us for Stoke,” Hayden - who was handing out food parcels at the Newcastle West End Food Bank, which has been generously supported by the donations contributed by Magpies fans on matchdays - said of Benitez.

“We just want to build on what we’ve done over the last couple of games. The Premier League’s a long season, it’s very intense and the games are of a very-high quality.

“We have to just make sure that whichever Saturday or Sunday when we play, we’re bang on and 100 per cent ready for the task at hand.

“The manager always prepares us right, and I’m sure by Saturday we will be.”

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Newcastle will look to register three straight Premier League wins this weekend for the first time since 2014 when they host Stoke at St James’ Park.

Benitez will retake his place in the dugout for this match, having been forced to call his backroom staff in to cover for him at Swansea - and will be able to relay messages to his squad in person, rather than by phone as he did last weekend.

Hayden added: “[Last Sunday before the Swansea game] the manager called a lot of the individuals - maybe the whole team, I’m not sure - but he called us individually before the game to have a private one-on-one chat about the game.

“He wanted to engage with us all and just explain to us what he wants from each player individually.

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Newcastle United 2-1 Stoke City

“It just shows that he trusts a lot of the players; he puts a lot of faith in them and he knows even if he’s not there physically he can have a five-minute chat with you and that when you go on the pitch he knows you’ll be doing exactly what he wants you to be doing.

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“Again I thought it was a really professional job all week. Even without the manager last week, the training was very, very professional - everyone was very focused, whether you thought you were going to play or whether you thought you weren’t.